Corn husking roller



A. R. MARTIN C IORN HUSKING ROLLER.

April 11, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 7, 1946 April 11, 1950 A. R.MARTIN CORN nusxmc ROLLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001:. 7, 1946 PatentedApr. 11 1950 UNITED STATES FATENT OFF] 'coiaN HUsKmG ROLLER Austin'R;Martin, Warsaw, M0. Application October 7, 1946, Serial No. 701,830

3 Claims. (01. 130-5) This invention relates to corn'husking rollers.

An object of this invention is to provide a husking roller having huskremoving fingers which are so constructed and mounted'that they willremove the husks without removing the kernels of corn from the cob.

Another object of this invention is toprovide a husking roller withresilient husking fingers which project from the cylindrical wall ofthe'roller. In one form of this invention each finger isformed integralwith an end of a, resilient bar which is fixedly secured to the insideof the roller. In a second form of this invention, the finger is formedwith a spiral base which is slidable'through the wall of the roller, anda spring bearing against the inner side of the base constantly urges thefinger outwardly.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved mountingfor one member of each pair of rollers, the mounting'inc'luding aswingable spring-pressed bearing at'each'end of one roller so as tothereby prevent crushing of the ears of corn and also to provideresilient gripping contact between the pairs of rollers to pull theloosened husks from the cobs.

With the above and other objects 'in view, my invention consists in thearrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in thedrawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

'In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a detail side elevation 'of a series of corn husking rollersconstructedaccording to an embodiment of this invention,"

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a pair of the rollers,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure2, a

Figure 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken on'the line4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially on the line55 of Figure 4'.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of the yieldable mounting forone member of each'pa'ir of rollers.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of rollerconstruction,

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-8 of Figure 7.

Referring to the drawings, and first to'Figures Ito 5 inclusive, thenumeral hf! designatesgenerally a frame which is formed of oppositeparallel'side members i l. The frame Iilhas 'journaled between the sidemembers il thereof pairs of husking rollers i2 and I3. The rollers 13are mounted in fixed bearings M which are secured to the side members llwhereas the rollers 1.2 are mounted in swinging bearings as will be hereinafter described. The rollers 12 and I3 are -of like construction andthe detailed descriptionofv one of these rollers will apply equally aswell to the other roller.

The roller l2 includes a cylindrical body 5 which has secured to theopposite ends thereof head members I6. The head members 1,6 havedisposed in the axial center thereof outwardly extending stub shafts I!having a plate l d/at their inner ends secured by fasteningmeans 19201'the like to the head it. The roller .l2.has;.the stub shaft ll at oneend thereof jjournaled through a bearing sleeve -20 which is carried by,a vertically disposed supporting plate 2|.v The supporting plate 2| ispivotally secured to-a-base member 2-2 which is secured by fasteningmeans 23 to the upper side of'a side member II.

The bearing member has an eye ziextendeing angularly and downwardlytherefrom with: which one end of'a roller tensioning Springi'lSi'isadapted to engage. The opposite end of .the spring 25 is secured .toaneye 26 Ma turn buckle 21. The opposite end of the turn bucklez'l whichhas an eye 28 is secured b fastening means 29' to the outer side of theside member H. The turn Jouckle 21 extends downwardly from the roller 12and in the direction of the roller l3 so that-the, tensioning of thespring 25 will cause the roller I 2 to be spring tensioned against theroller 13. The roller I 2 has extending therethrough, a plurality ofhusking fingers 30 which loosely extend through countersunk openings 3|formed-in the cylindrical body [5. The husking fingers 30 are disposedin staggered relation abouttheperiphery of the roller l2 and thefree'end of each finger 30 is, slightly expanded and formed as anencircling stop means "to avoid any tendency of the finger end to catchin the openings 3i-gand formed integral "with the inner end'thereof isaresilient bar 32 or body section placed at 90? thereto and extendedlongitudinally .of-ythe drumv terminating in an eye 33 formedvintegrally thereof.

A fastening bolt or screw 34 is extended through the body I5 from theouter side thereof. and then extended through the eye 33. A clamp ingnut 35 is threaded 011113116 inner end ofthe bolt and a Washer 36 may beinterposed between each finger bar 32 or body section is relativelylong, being proportioned to effect a gentle pressed finger actionagainst the unhusked ears of corn just sufficient for penetration of thehusk without injury to or the shelling of the corn kernels from the cob.

These fingers 30 are designed to separate the husks from the corn cob sothat the spring tensioned rollers will grasp the free ends of the huskand pull the husk from the cob as the rollers rotate. The roller 12 hasmounted on at least one stub shaft thereof, a sprocket 31 and the roller[3 has mounted on its associated stub shaft 8. sprocket 38. A rolleroperating chain 39 engages the sprockets 31 and 38, being trained overthe top of the sprocket 31 and beneath the sprocket 38. In this mannerthe two rollers forming a pair, will rotate in opposite direction. Thechain 38 is trained over a driving sprocket 48 carried by a drivingshaft 4| which is connected to a suitable power means and preferably theupper run 42 of the chain 39 is trained over an idler sprocket 43.

According to the preferred form of the invention, the stationary rollersl3 rotate in a counterclockwise direction while the so-called floatingrollers l2 rotate in a clockwise direction. The removed husks willinevitably drop downwardly through the spaces shown between the adjacentpairs or rollers while at the same time these spaces are notsufficiently large to permit the ears to drop.

As will be appreciated, the rotation of the rollers will automaticallycarry the ears forwardly from the driving end to the driven end, or infact, such rotating rollers may automatically result in the shucked earsbeing moved laterally of the apparatus and oil the same. If desired, tofacilitate this more or less gravitational sliding movement of the cornears away from the rollers, the latter may be inclined slightly to oneside or the other.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, there is disclosed a modified form ofroller construction and husking finger. The body 44 of the roller hasextending inwardly therefrom a cylindrical member 45 which is formedwith a closed inner end 46. The cylindrical member 45 is internallythreaded as at 41 and a nut 48 engages the threads 41. A movable orspring finger 48 is slidable through the bore 50 of the nut 48 and isformed at its inner end with a spiral base The base 5! bears against theinner end of the nut 48 and the diameter of the base 5| is such as toprovide for the free inward movement of the finger 49 and the base 5|. Afinger tensioning spring 52 is interposed between the inner side of thebase 5| and the bottom wall 46 and a washer 53 is interposed between theouter end of the spring 52 and the inner side of the base 5|.

With a husking roller construction as hereinbefore described, the huskloosening finger or the finger 49 will loosen the husks from the corncob without loosening the kernels of corn and the loosened husks will begrasped between the contacting portion of the two rollers l2 and I3which will thereupon pull the loosened husk from the corn cob or ear.The tension of the fingers 30 and 48, is such as to provide thenecessary loosening action of the husk without loosening or removing thekernels of corn from the ear. In any of the resilient fingers becomedamaged they can be readily replaced by the insertion of a new finger aswill be readily apparent. The insertion of the new finger is made forthe construction shown in Figures 1 to 5 by removing one of the endheads and then inserting the finger into the interior of the roller andapplying the head bolt to the eye of the finger construction. The springpressed or resilient finger shown in Figure 7 can be readily replaced byunthreading the tensioning nut 48 and inserting a new finger for thedamaged one.

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of constructionherein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview ofthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a corn-husking apparatus a frame, a pair of substantially parallelhorizontally extending cylindrical drums rotatably supported by saidframe, a plurality of depressible prong-like members having endsextending outwardly from the peripheral surfaces of said drums saidprong-like members having an elongated body section formed at 90 anglesthereto and extending longitudinally of and within its supporting drumwith a secured end oppositely spaced from the prong end and formed as aloop for fixed engagement to said drum, the said prong-like members ofone of said drums being staggered with respect to those of the otherdrum, one of said drums being supported in relatively stationarybearings provided in said frame and the other of said drums beingsupported in relatively movable bearings of said frame, driving meansadapted for bringing about rotative movement of said drums, and meanswhereby there is permitted intermittent periods of spaced relationshipand bearing engagement between said peripheral surfaces of said drums asthe same are rotated, all adapted and arranged whereby when the drumsare in surface-bearing engagement, the prong-like members are depressedand when the drums are in spaced relationship the prong-like members arereleased to operative positions.

. 2. In a corn-husking apparatus, a frame, at least a pair ofsubstantially parallel horizontally extending cylindrical drumsrotatably supported by said frame, each of said drums being providedwith a plurality of apertures in its peripheral surface, a plurality ofhusk-engaging members each of which consists of a unitary length ofrodlike resilient material and including an elongated 7: body sectionextending longitudinally of and within its supporting drum formingresilient whereby there is permitted intermittent periods of spacedrelationship and bearing engagement between said peripheral surfaces ofsaid drums as the same are rotated, all adapted and arranged wherebywhen the drums are in surface-bearing engagement, the prong-like membersare depressed and when the drums are in spaced relationship theprong-like members are released to operative positions.

3. In a corn-husking apparatus, a frame, at

least a pair of substantially parallel horizontally Y extendingcylindrical drums rotatably supported by said frame, each of said drumsbeing provided with a plurality of countersunk apertures in its' withintheir supporting drum having their inner end portions fastened on theinside of said drums and outer end portions bent at a 90 angle relativeto each of said arms to form prong-likemembers extending outwardlysubstantially atrright angles to said arms and normally projeetingthrough said apertures in the drums at right angles to the longitudinalaxis of said drums said prong-like members being depressible to recedeinto said drum with stop means formed at the 10 end of each member torestrict its recession to flush positioning relative to the surface ofthe supporting drum, and means wherebyzlthere is permitted intermittentperiods of spaced relationship and bearing engagement between saidperipheral surfaces of said drums as thesaine are rotated, all adaptedand arranged whereby when the drums are in surface-bearing engagement,the prong-like members are depressedian'd' when the drums are in spacedrelationship thefpronglike members are released to operative positions,

6 the said apertures of one of said drums being in staggered relationwith respect to those of the other drum.

AUSTIN R. MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

